Yu Zhang

My research focuses on the transcultural exchanges between Japan and China during the the Edo period (1603-1868), specifically on the representation of China in ukiyo-e prints and illustrated books. Recognizing that outsize fascination with ukiyo-e outside Japan has sorely obscured Edo’s far more diverse cultural and artistic landscape, my research attempts to place Edo into a transcultural framework, demonstrating how the city’s popular visual culture was not merely limited to the trope of ‘floating world’, but dynamically engaged with and interacted with foreign cultures, particularly that of China. Broadly, I am also interested in and studying Japanese paintings from the Edo period, contemporary Chinese ink art 实验水墨, museology and curating. 

Main Advisor
Prof. William Fleming

Academic History

M.A. in History of Art and Archaeology of East Asia, SOAS University of London

B.A. in History of Art, SOAS University of London

Curated and Co-Curated Exhibitions: 

Print to Pattern: Unveiling the Kimono through Japanese Prints (September 2024, Ezen Gallery, London);

Editor-in-Chef, Maritime Echoes: The Story of Stone 海丝回响·石头记 ( May 2024, Oxo Gallery, London);

Sacred Truths: An Interactive Calligraphy Workshop with Chinese artist Qu Leilei and Dr. Panpan Yang, (July 2023, SOAS Gallery, London)